Armoury heist: Burglars broke into two rooms
The firearms storage facility called KOTE (keeper of technical equipment) and the ammunition plus explosives room, called battalion magazine, are about 40 metres apart, according to police officers. There was no breach of the barbed wire fence and the guards claimed they did not notice the burglary till Aug 31 morning. That means more than one person was directly involved in the offence to carry out the weapons weighing over 40 kg,” said a senior police officer.
“Guards claimed innocence saying that due to heavy rain they did not hear the noise and the doors of both the facilities were not in their line of sight.
“The perimeter has a barbed wire fence but one can sneak through the gaps between the wires,” said an officer privy to the investigation. Interrogation is yet to yield results,” said a Malkajgiri police officer. The guard room is centrally located from both facilities. “That, or the crime was committed over time. The initial suspicion was naturally against Army personnel who were on guard duty in two-hour shifts that night, their supervisors and old-timers who know the entire place well. This means either the burglars knew everything about the armoury or guards have been lying.
Malkajgiri police officials have seized it as part of the investigation and verification of the magazine’s number by the army officials revealed that it was not part of the stolen ammunition.
“We suspect that someone who had the empty magazine dumped it in the drain to avoid trouble during the search,” said a police officer. Immediately after the police complaint was lodged on Monday, a thorough search was carried out at the battalion and an empty INSAS rifle magazine was found in the stormwater drain next to the barracks.
NIA sleuths have also started collecting details of the case While police officials are yet to identify the accused and recover the stolen arms and ammunition after six days of investigation.